The present invention relates to polymerizable sugar esters and a process for the production thereof.
One known vinyl group-containing sugar compound is sucrose acrylate (Macromolecules, vol. 24, p3462-2463 (1991); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,915). The sucrose acrylate is produced by reacting a mixture of sucrose and vinyl acrylate in an organic solvent in the presence of an enzyme.
The sucrose acrylate gives a sugar-based polymer by addition polymerization thereof through the double bond thereof. The sugar-based polymer is utilizable as a biodegradable plastic.
The sucrose acrylate is represented by the formula: EQU S--OCOCR.dbd.CH.sub.2
wherein S represents a sucrose residue and R represents a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbyl group. Since the spacer portion (--OCO--) between the vinyl group and the sugar molecule of the sucrose acrylate is short, it is difficult for the polymer obtained by the polymerization thereof to sufficiently function as a sugar.